• Calvin Trillin explains that “Among people who think of themselves as wine connoisseurs there’s a 61 percent ACI [Asshole Correlation Index],” and that percentage goes way up among dudes who spend a lot of time discussing both cigars and single-malt Scotch. [Slate]

• A scandal involving a bunch of fake Pinot Noir grapes that French con men sold to American winemakers (including E&J; Gallo) means a lot of people will be entitled to refunds out of a class-action settlement. [Reuters]

• Chicago sommelier and wine-tasting instructor Krunch Kretschmar allegedly tried to take direct revenge on a Yelper who criticized one of his classes. A suit filed in Cook’s County court alleges that he set up a blog in the woman’s name and wrote a series of slanderous things about her. [Sun-Times]

• Over at the Times, Eric Asimov & Co. taste a collection of wines from the Canary Islands, where vines grow really close to the ground, in volcanic soil, and have to be shielded from the hot sea breezes by low stone walls around every individual vine. [NYT]

• There are, surprisingly, some 30 vineyards producing wine in New Hampshire, where cold-weather-resistant hybrid grapes are often used. But the wine doesn’t make it far out of New Hampshire and Massachusetts. [Union-Leader]

• Silicon Valley wine writer Richard Jennings would like everyone to understand that drinking really old wines, which the vast majority of the drinking public doesn’t have access to, is what it’s all about. [Palo Alto Patch]